Shifting College Majors in Response to Advanced Placement Exam Scores

Christopher Avery, Oded Gurantz, Michael Hurwitz and Jonathan Smith

Journal of Human Resources, 2018, vol. 53, issue 4, 918-956

Abstract: Do signals of high aptitude shape the course of collegiate study? We apply a regression discontinuity design to understand how college major choice is impacted by receiving a higher Advanced Placement (AP) integer score, despite similar exam performance, compared to students who received a lower integer score. Attaining higher scores increases the probability that a student majors in that exam subject by approximately 5 percent (0.64 percentage points), with some individual exams demonstrating increases as high as 30 percent. A substantial portion of the overall effect is driven by behavioral responses to the positive signal of receiving a higher score.

JEL-codes: I2 I23 I26 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
Note: DOI: 10.3368/jhr.53.4.1016-8293R
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Shifting College Majors in Response to Advanced Placement Exam Scores (2016)
Working Paper: Shifting College Majors in Response to Advanced Placement Exam Scores (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:53:y:2018:i:4:p:918-956

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